Bathtur



L. WOLFF.

Mar. 27, 1923.

BATHTUBl FILED APR. 8| 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

2 SHEETS SH'EET 2.

L. WOLFF.

BATHTUB FILED APR. 8, 1921.

Mar. 27, 1923.

Patented a7, reza LOUIS WOLFF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,`ASSIGNOR T CIE/A1111? COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO,

ILLENGIS, A CORPORATION 0]? ILLINOIS.

- BATHTUB.

Application med .pril 3, 1921. Serial No. 459,5.

To all -wwm t may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis Wonrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illmois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bathtubs, of which the following is a specification.`

This invention relates in general to bathtubs, and has more particular reference to what are commercially known as apron tubs, in which one or more sides or ends of the tubare equipped with an apron which conceals the. exterior of the tub body from vie-w, presents an attractive appearance, and gratly enhances the ornamental effect of the Heretofore, apron tubs of two types have been manufactured. ln one type, the apron or aprons, as the case may be, were cast structurally were fitted and attached tothe body when the tub was installed. This type, however, possesses disadvantages in that considerable labor was involved 1n attaching the apron or aprons to the tub body, and furthermore, an unattractive and undesirable joint was unavoidable between the apron and the tub, and also between the different sections of the apron if more than one face of the tub was equipped with an apron.

In the other type, the apron was cast integrally with the tub body, and either sloped inwardly toward the'body at its lower edge, or was substantially vertical from top ,to

bottom. In the manufacture of both the inwardly slo and the vertical apron tubs, the back draft between the apron and the `opposed wall of the tub body renders the manufacture of these tubs very difficult since 4o either a multi-piece pattern must be eniployed, or the pattern must be drawn from the molds both in the making u of the cope and drag at a slant or degree o pitch. Furthermore, the closing or assembling of the mold must be effected at a similar'slant or tilt, which increases the difficulty and cost of manufacture. In' addition, the inclined method of molding necessitates a long radius at the juncture of the side walls, with the bottom of the tub, which necessarily restricts the width of the tub bottom and makes it curved instead of flat, thereby decreasing its comfort to the user and increasing the liability of-injuries resulting from slipping in the tub.

independent of the tub body and One of the primary purposes of my present invention is to provide an integral cast tub which may have an ap-ron on one, two, three, or four sides, as desired, the apron being sloped from top to bottom away from the body of the tub so as to a'ord sufficient clearance to obviate all back draft and permit the perpendicular drawing of the cope and drag from the sand in the formation of the mold, and the perpendicular closing of the completed cope and drag, together, for the casting operation.

ln the manufacture of a tub embodying` vmy invention, the necessity of' multi-piece patterns is entirely obviated, and since all the movements of the mold parts are perpendicular, the difficulty and expense of effecting `these movements at an incline or slant are obviated.

A tub embodying my invention may also have a wider, flatter bottom than it has been possible heretofore to produce in those. tubs which involved the inclined or slanting movements of the mold sections in their manufacture, consequently, my .improved tub'is more comfortable for the user, and by reason of its flatter bottom, the liability of slippage and resultant injuries is materially reduced.

A further feature of my invention resides in the structure of the apron itself, which is stepped'outwardly at intervals from top to bottom, presenting an appearance of longitudinal parallel steps or corrugations which break up 0r divide the expanse of flat surfaces presented, thereby rendering less prominent the wavy appearance which inevitably is present in enameled surfaces, due to surface irregularities, or to differences in the enamel density. These steps or corrugations, therefore, serve the dual purpose of strengthening to some extent the apron structure and enhancing the appearance and beauty of the tub.

-Other objects and advantages of this invention should be readilyappreciated as the same becomes better understood, by reference to the following description, when considered in connection with the accompanyin drawings.

eferring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bath tub embodying my inventio-n;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view therethrough;

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Fig. 3 is va plan view; 'and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view. The vertical integral apron tubs heretofore employed, and in the manufacture of which I tern of a tub equipped on both sides and both ends with an apron if so desired, since the movements of both the cope and-drag are in a perpendicular direction. While'it is rarely desirable that ythe apron extend entirely around the tub, it is frequently desirable that it extend along both sides and one end so that the tub may have o-ne end disposed against a wall and both sides and the opposite end exposed to view. More commonly, however, the tub is set in a corner of a bathroom, and when so positioned, it is necessary that the apronextend only along one side v and'one end, and while as previously stated, my invention contemplates the application of an apron to both sides and both ends of the tub if desired, I have shown in the present instance for purposes of illustration7 a tub-which is equipped with an apron at one side and one end only.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, it will be observed that my improved tub comprises the body proper, consisting of the bottom 5, the rear side wall 6, the front side wall 7, the straight end wall 8, and the inclined end wall.9. This body is of cast construction vprovided at its top with a horizontal ledge 11, which extends entirely around the tub and at one or more sides, in the present instance one side and one end; this ledge is continued intov an integral depending apron, indicated generally by reference character 12. This apron, as will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 4, slopes from top to bottom away from a vertical plane disposed between the apron- `and the opposed wall of the tub body, and preferably, for adding strength to the apronv and also increasing its attractiveappearance, 'the apron, instead of being entirely flat, is fluted longitudinally, as indicated by reference characters 13, 14 and 15. These flutes are formed by stepping the apron outwardly, as shown in Figs; 2 and 4, thus increasing the i distance of the apron from top to bottom away from the vertical plane previously mentioned so as to provide suiicientclearance to preclude all back draft in-the manufacture' of theatub and at the same time7 presenting on lthe exposed face of the apron, a corrugated or luted effect which breaks up o'r divides the flat surface so as to diminish-the conspicuousness of the wavy lefect which results from the enameling operation, andthereby increase the beauty and attractiveness of the tub.

While these steps may be extended entirely to the ends of the apron,'it is believed to increase the attractiveness of the tub to merge them into a straight line rib or web 16 at each end of the apron, and such a structure is vshown on the drawings. It will be observed that the front wall 7 of the tub body and also the rear wall 6 slope inwardly from top to bottom a limited amount, but since the outward sloping of the apron affords sufficient clearance to obviate back draft in the manufacture of the tub without disposing the molds at ain-angle to the perpendicular, it is obvious that the slope of the body walls need only be sufcient to prevent back draft when the cope and drag are moved vertically in a right line, and consequently, the slope of these walls may be much less than has been necessary in integral perpendicular apron tubs heretofore manufactured.

also a Hatter bottom, with the result that the 'tub is not only wider and vmore comfortable, but by reason of the flatter bottom, there is less liability for the user to slip when entering or leaving thevtub, and therefore, the liability of injury as'the result of slippage is materially reduced.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a tub which possesses Omany advantageous features as the result of This lesser degree of slope of the side walls permits the production of a wider bottom than has heretofore been possible, andr its construction, not only practical advan- 7 tages which will be appreciated by the user,

but also advantages in the increased attractiveness of its appearance. Furthermore, a tub embodying my invention may have the apron on three, or even four sides, if ydesired, and by reason of 'the clearance ref sulting from the tapered space between the apron and the opposed wall of the tub body from top to bottom, the tub may be manufactured much more easily and much more economicallyy than tubs which have heretofore been employed.

It is believed thatY of manufacture and' many of its inherent advantages will be understood from the foregoing without further description, and while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, obviously its details of construction may be varied within considerable limits without departing from the essence of the invention as defined inthe following claims.

I claim:

1. A bathtub, comprising a body provided at its upper edge with a depending skirt cast integrally with said body and stepped outwardly progressively increasing ,distances from vtop to bottom, the Wall oflsaid body opposed to said skirt being inclined inwardly from top to bottom Whereby a tapered space of minimum cross section at its upper end progressively increasing to maximum at its lower end is provided between said body and said skirt. Y

2. A bathtub adapted to be cast'from a one-piece pattern in a green sand mold, comprising a body'and a skirt cast integrally and coated with enamel, said body having a relatively Wide flattened'bottom joined to the side Walls along` short radius arcs, and the side Wall opposed to the skirt being continuously inclined from top to bottom away from a vertical plane disposed intermediate said body and skirt, said skirt being also continuously inclined from top to bottom away trom said intermediate plane and shaped to form a plurality of vertically spaced outwardly stepped offsets extending horizontally along the outer face of 4said skirt.

LOUIS WLFR 

